The Law Flashcards
What is the Tenakh? Describe the three parts that make up the Tenakh
- THE JEWISH HOLY BOOK, most of it is written in Hebrew
-Torah: First 5 books of Moses, THE MOST IMPORTANT
-Nevi’im: Books of the prophets
-Ketuvim: Collection of other writings + poetry + some history
What books make up the Torah?
(most important ones to know)
- Genesis
- Exodus
- Leviticus
- Numbers
- Deuturonomy
What books make up the Nevi’im?
(most important ones to know)
- Jonah
- Isiah
- Ezekiel
What books make up the Ketuvim?
(most important ones to know)
- Ruth
- Pslams
- Songs of Solomen
What makes the Torah so important?
- Contains foundation of what it means to be a Jew + live a halakhic life
- Contains the WORDS GOD SPOKE TO MOSES, through reading and living out 613 mitzvot Jews are living out God’s will
What is the Sefer Torah and the Chumash?
- Sefer Torah = copied versions of the Torah written on large scrolls, stored in the Ark in the synagogue, read out on Shabbat
- Chumash = printed versions of Torah Jews follow along with the service or for Shabbat
How do Jews respect the Torah?
- Read with a Yad - disrespectful to touch with hands
- Covered with a Torah mantle - decorates and protects Torah scrolls in a cloth, represents value and respect
- Stored in the Ark
- IF DROPPED, compulsory fast for 24 hours
What does the Nevi’im show?
give more detailed desc of what it acc is essentially
-
Written by prophets/people with God’s divine spirit - helps Jews think about their relationship with their faith
-Prophets guided people when they didn’t know what God expected of them
-Reminds Jews of their covenant relationship + how it’s working out through history
-Split into two parts, early prophets and later prophets
What does the Ketuvim show?
give more detailed desc of what it acc is essentially
-
Contains songs, stories and poems in 12 books (inc Pslams and Proverbs) and 5 scrolls
-some scrolls read out at Jewish festivals (e.g. scroll of Ruth read on Shavout)
-do contain history, remind Jews of how they behaved towards God, how this affects the present history
What is the Talmud? What is it made up of?
- THE JEWISH ORAL LAW, consists of the Mishnah and the Gemara
Mishnah - written about 200CE made up by Rabbi Judah the Prince, contains opinions abt the Torah from other rabbis, written down due to fears of losing teachings after the dispora in 200AD
Gemara - written about 500CE, two rabbis wrote rabbinic discussions, an explanation of the Mishnah
Why is the law important?
- Instructs Jews on how to live a halakhic life
- Laws help carry on traditions of the Jewish faith
- Laws help keep the covenant between God and his people
Divergence surrounding law?
- ALL JEWS regard the Torah as the most important, sacred text
- Orthodox Jews regard Talmud as having the same authority as Torah - Reform see it as a collection of opinions from rabbis
- Reform Jews may update laws to be more relevant to today (e.g. kashrut laws
